Prisonic Fairy Tale: Tears Of
by amaratenou2002
Summary: PART ONE OF FOUR. Alessa's mother always told her she was special but she never understood what that meant. Named after the Silent Hill song that reminded me of Alessa. The prologue is up
1. Prologue

The cool wind comes in through the window in the hallway. Alessa's nightgown is not enough to protect her from the slight chill in the air. She cannot sleep and knows her mommy will be meeting with one of her strange friends. Alessa's little feet carry her silently down the stairs. Although she has never seen her mommy's friend, she has heard his voice many times before. As much as she wants to steal a look at this strange man, Alessa does not dare peek around the corner. She might be caught and punished severely. Mommy can be really frightening when she is mad. It scares Alessa when that happens, so she tries to be the best little girl she can.

Her mommy's voice floats to her ears, "… hasn't a clue. But it's nothing to worry about. I can handle it."

"You'd better not screw this up, Dahlia," a male voice growls. "You don't know how long we've been waiting for this to happen."

"Calm down, Leonard. I've got everything under control. Before you know it, paradise will upon us."

Alessa has heard her mommy mention 'paradise' quite a few times. Alessa does not know what 'paradise' is. Her mommy always says, "Once God is born, paradise will come and those faithful will be saved." Whenever one of her strange friends comes they discuss 'God' and 'paradise'. Mommy is very concerned with religion. She mumbles something in an odd language before going to bed every night. Alessa always wonders what her mommy is saying but she never asks. The symbol her mommy painted on the basement floor makes Alessa tremble with fear. She does not know what it means but she knows she hates it. Fortunately for her, she is not allowed in the basement.

Mommy's footsteps fade as they head outside. Alessa quietly goes up to the hallway and looks out the window. Mommy is out on the lawn with the strange man. Alessa runs to her room before mommy comes back inside. She ducks under her blankets, the only place she feels safe. Nothing can reach her there. It is late but she is not tired yet so she takes out her flashlight and her favorite book, 'The Lost World'. She is only seven years old but she is very smart. Mommy always tells her she is special in many ways. She can pick up things faster because she has a special… 'Power'.


	2. Chapter One

Though Midwhich Elementary School is quite a ways from her home, Alessa prefers walking than taking the bus. This year she is in first grade, Mrs. Gordon's class. She hates riding the bus because some of the kids throw things at her. They are clever enough to never get caught by the bus driver, or maybe he just does not care. She packs up her backpack early in the morning and starts walking. Recess is nearly over by the time she arrives She only gets a few minutes to rest before everyone trudges inside. Alessa puts her things in her assigned locker and finds a desk in the back of the class. The kids in her class make sure to sit as far away from her as they can. Most of them are afraid of her. They think if they talk to her, her mother will out a curse on them.

All the children in town are scared of Alessa because of her mother. Often someone will write ugly words on their house and Dahlia will tell them they will not be spared once God brings paradise upon them. All the older kids would tell Alessa how crazy her mother is. She will never back a comment back though. They could hurt her if she did. Besides, she did not even know what to say. As far as she knew, no one in town is of the same religion as her mother. Dahlia goes to church every morning while Alessa is at school. Alessa does not know what her mommy's church looks like. She knows her mommy keeps some weird things in the basement though- that is not including the symbol drawn on the floor.

Alessa always felt different from everyone despite what they said about her mommy. It is something she cannot explain- not that she has anyone to say it to. She learned to read last year while all the other children learned the alphabet. She had to follow along with them so no one would single her out. The kids are mean to her already. She did not want to make it worse. Maybe if she was a normal child, she could have someone to play with. What makes her so different? Is she crazy like the students say her mommy is? Alessa does not know the answer.

The teacher, Mrs. Gordon, comes in and everyone gets quiet. They do not do much today because it is their first day. Mainly they review what they had learned last year. The class answers in unison but Alessa does not talk as loud as everyone else. Her voice seems lost and unheard. Despite the feelings of loneliness, the first few days of school are okay. The third day was not so good. A boy no one had ever suspected to behave badly stole Alessa's backpack. He had done it as a prank on her. When she asks him for it back, he says, "If I don't will your mommy put a spell on me? Will she turn me into a frog?"

"No!" Alessa replies raising her voice in her disgust.

"She's a witch. Witches get burned, you know."

"Stop it!" The kid begins to insult her again but stops mid-sentence and doubles over. His body convulses violently as he begins to vomit. The other children watch in horror as the blood covers the floor. Alessa does not understand what is happening. The teacher rushes the crying boy to the nurse's office. A few of the children turn to stare at Alessa with the look of terrified awe painted on their faces. She realizes what they are thinking and begins to plead to them, "I didn't do it. I didn't do it." They give her no answer; instead they turn their backs to her. From there, the struggle at school worsens. On her way to lunch that day, Alessa is pushed to the ground. She is too afraid to see who had done it. She picks her things up off the floor and quickly sits at a table. During recess she is chased by a group of kids until they trap her in the tunnel. She goes home unhappier than ever before.

Dahlia is standing in the kitchen when Alessa comes through the door. "Alessa," her mommy says, "you're finally home. There's a visitor here that you can play with. She's waiting in the living room for you." Her mommy pushes her toward the couch where another girl sits. This girl seems very boring. Her blond hair is plain, her face has a few dirty smudges on it-upon closer inspection, Alessa realizes the dirt spots are actually bruises- she is wearing a plain gray dress, and she is only five. Alessa mumbles a greeting. "You can play with Alessa for a while, Claudia, until your father comes to get you," says before leaving them alone. Alessa does not want to move from the spot in which she is standing. It would be better if this girl, Claudia, were not here. Alessa wants nothing more than to run up to her room and hide.

"Do you wanna play cards?" Claudia asks. She has a weird accent Alessa has never heard before. Claudia's voice is surprisingly strong for how boring she looks to be.

Alessa says, "Okay. I have some in my room. Come on." Up the stairs their feet patter on their way to Alessa's room. A deck of old playing cards, given to Alessa by her mommy, is hiding in a drawer in her desk. She takes them out of the dark for the first time in a long time and sets them out on the floor. "What game do you want to play?" she asks Claudia.

"How about 'Old Maid' or 'Slap Jack'?"

"I don't have 'Old Maid' cards so we'll have to play 'Slap Jack'." Alessa deals out the cards until they are all separated into two piles, which rest in the hands of the two girls. Alessa throws down the white rectangle with the design of eight red hearts. Then Claudia puts her Ace of Spades down on top of the last card. They continue in this manner until one of the four Jacks shows up on the pile. The girls slam one of their hands down fiercely, stinging their palms in the process. Whoever has their hand on the card, takes it. This time it is Claudia who gets it.

While the two girls play through their second game, Claudia speaks, "My daddy knows your mommy. He goes to church with her."

"Oh," Alessa says. She does not really listen to what Claudia has told her.

"Have you been to church?" Alessa shakes her head indicating that she has not. "I wanna go but daddy wont let me. He said I don't have enough faith in God."

"Why did he say that?"

"I don't know. He said I'd never see Paradise."

"Mommy says stuff like that to me sometimes too. I don't even know what 'paradise' is."

Claudia is appalled by what Alessa has just told her. "You don't know about paradise?" she asks. "How much faith do you have in God?" Alessa does not answer so Claudia continues, "When God is born again, she will save us and show us a place better than this world." This girl, Claudia, is only five years old and yet she speaks in the same words as Alessa's mother. What kind of family does Claudia come from? They do not speak; instead they play cards in silence until they are called downstairs. Claudia's father has come to get her. The two girls mumble a goodbye before the visitors leave.

Alessa turns to her mommy and asks, "Mommy, how can God bring 'paradise'?"

"Ignorant child," her mommy snaps. "Why do you ask me such stupid questions? Do you have no faith in God?"

"But mommy, I don't even know who God is. What happens if she doesn't bring 'paradise'?"

"How dare you question the power of God? I will now tolerate a deviant child in my house!" Dahlia picks up her daughter and hauls her to the attic. "You will stay here until you have learned your lesson. God is watching you. May she punish your evil tongue!"

The small bulb that swings overhead barely gives light to the small room. It does not, however, fail to keep the eyes drawn on the walls in black crayon away from the grasp of the darkness. Each eye seems to stare back at Alessa mercilessly. There is no hiding from God for she can see all. Alessa is suddenly overcome by a sick feeling in her stomach. It is causing her to convulse. 'Is this my punishment from God?' she wonders. When the violent shaking of her body ceased, she lay motionless on the wooden floor. The light begins to flicker before it goes out completely. Alessa's eyes squeeze shut as they try to deny the darkness enveloping the room. A heavy weight seems to have fallen on her body because she feels as though she cannot move and her breath has become ragged. It takes her a few minutes to get the courage to open her eyes up. An image flashes in her mind of a horrendous demon. The horns on its head reach the sky, the wings on its back are stretched out, the color of its body resembles the color of blood and dirt, its face is featureless except for its gaping mouth that lets loose a high-pitched scream. Alessa screams in response as she scrambles to her feet. She is able to find a corner where she decides to hide; she is sitting there now and is screaming for help.


	3. Chapter Two

In the morning, Alessa tries to make up an excuse not to go to school. This angers Dahlia and she tells Alessa a punishment will be waiting for her once she comes home. Alessa walks to school, on the verge of crying. Why did mommy always get so mad at her? Why, if mommy had heard about what had happened at school yesterday, Alessa would be in even more trouble. She is trying to be a good girl but it seems she can only do bad. She does not want to face the kids at recess so she tries to hide in the bathroom. However, some older girls are already there and Alessa is afraid of them. The classroom is probably the safest place for her. The collar of her dress pulls hard against her neck. The hands of another whip her body around. "You are supposed to be outside," an old, grouchy woman says. She roughly snatches hold of Alessa's hand and marches her outside. Bad luck seems to hang over her head for the boy from yesterday is standing by the fence.

"Hey Alessa," the boy calls once the lady has left. "My sister is going to beat you up." An older girl, a fourth grader, is standing by him. Alessa does not want to get hurt so she turns and runs. She hears the girl yell something. Surely she is going after her but Alessa hopes she will find a safe place to hide. The muscles in her legs are weakening fast. Footsteps behind her slam down on the pavement. Breathing is an impossible chore for Alessa. The lack of oxygen causes her body to collapse on the ground. The fourth grade girl is standing over her.

"You hurt my brother," she says," so now I'm going to hurt you." Alessa is yanked back up to her feet and dragged to the fence in the field by two other girls. They have a tight hold on her wrists. A sharp pain stings her chin because that boy's sister is digging her nails into Alessa's skin. "Look at me," she says, roughly forcing Alessa's face up. "You and your crazy mother should burn like the witches you are. But, since none of us have lighters, I'm going to do something different." Alessa could see blood on the nails of the girl's right hand that is raised high in the air. With her fingers clenched, she brought it back down with such strength into Alessa's stomach that a spray of blood shot from Alessa's mouth. The grip on her wrists broke, allowing her body to fall to the ground. The thought of the attack being over has entered her mind but it is feeding her false hopes. The three girls join in together on pummeling her. The schoolyard becomes silent because of her deafening scream.

Teachers break up the small group of girls to find Alessa battered and bleeding on the grass. Among the teachers is Mrs. Kim Gordon. Her dark brown hair fails to conceal the shocked look displayed on her face. She is the only one that reaches for the seemingly lifeless seven years old child on the ground. The others pull back as they think of this child's very religious mother. Though they know Dahlia Gillespie is capable of many things, their futile minds cannot even begin to realize the nightmares she can bestow. The child is carried into the nurse's office. Mrs. Kim Gordon cleans the child up. No tears are running down from her face, no emotions are being shown. The child is utterly blank and unresponsive. Mrs. Kim Gordon makes a mental note of this, for it could be a warning sign.

"Are you okay?" asks Mrs. Kim Gordon but the child does not answer. She simply stares blankly at the tiled floor before her. Gently she slips off the stiff cot and goes out the door. Her stomach is still churning in pain, a small patch of blood is drying on her split lip, and a white bandage is protecting either side of her chin. It is not possible for her to go outside though her backpack is still out there. The classroom will temporarily shelter her from her cruel classmates.

The murmuring of the other children while they enter the room is all Alessa can hear. It is louder than any other noise in the world against her ears. She begins to wish she could be deaf. All falls silent when their teacher enters the room. As Mrs. Gordon's back is turned, a child from the far side of the room crumples a paper and throws it in Alessa's direction. Silently it hits the right side of her head and stirs a slight snicker out of those around her. Mrs. Gordon resumes her lesson on the board after turning to see what has happened. Her eyes, of course, catch nothing.

Despite what has happened in the morning, Alessa is again forced outside after lunch. Though she takes as long as she can to eat, her tormenters still have time to chase her. She is able to climb halfway up the fence before they get to her. The tallest child grabs a hold of her ankle but she is fighting against their strength. Her foot thrashes until the firm grip on it has loosened and she is fine. Her weakening arms pull her body to the top of the fence. Both feet find a place to rest between the notches of the wires for a moment. In one swift motion Alessa's body is launched into the air. She lands had on the gravel beyond the schoolyard's fence. Immediately she picks herself up and runs down the road. Voices of the children and adults she left behind fade with every step she takes. She knows she will be in trouble but heads home anyway.

From the shattered glass of the window, Alessa sees the living room is empty. The door creaks open quickly and shuts very slowly once she is inside. The faint noise that reaches her ears is indistinguishable. It sounds far away but as she makes her way past the kitchen, it gets louder. The unfamiliar words make her stomach churn with disgust. It is hard for her not to vomit. Her nausea worsens as she draws closer to the old basement door but her curiosity is stronger. The moveable wood attached to the wall is slightly cracked open. Many voices dance up the stairs and echo in her mind. An unseen force pushes her to travel down the steps. The chanting intensifies and Alessa wants to scream. She feels as though she is being tortured. From the bottom of the stairs, she is able to see the scene as it plays out. Mommy, the strange man, and other unrecognizable people are crouched on that horrifying symbol painted in red. A strange altar has been made out of a small table. Different sized black candles burn with an orange flame below a painting. Alessa looks at the painting and nearly gasps. The ugly figure pictured in it is the demon she had seen when her mommy locked her in the attic. One of the people, a man, stands up and walks toward the altar; the chanting does not cease. The man lifts a knife off the table and turns his back to the group. Alessa is unable to see what he is doing. Once he is facing them again, she sees the bowl in his hand is filled with blood. This throws Alessa over the edge of panic. She races upstairs and through the front door to clean air. The broken part of the porch serves as a hiding place for her.

After two hours of waiting, the pounding of feet on the wooden stairs snaps Alessa out of her blank state. The strange people are leaving. Dahlia comes down to the dirt driveway, waving goodbye. She turns and sees her daughter hiding under the porch. "Come, Alessa," she says with amusement in her voice. "It's time to go inside." Hesitating at first, Alessa goes to Dahlia's side. "Did you run away from school?" Alessa nods fearfully. Dahlia gently squeezes Alessa's shoulder. It is a nice, comforting feeling. But once they are in the house, she is suddenly scared of her mommy. "You're such a naughty girl! Skipping school and causing trouble!" The sting of mommy's hand smacking Alessa's face brings tears. It does not stop there. Mommy begins spitting ugly names at her child. Each word brings with it a powerful, physical blow. Alessa cannot fight back. She is too shocked and hurt. Once she has the chance, she runs to her room. There is not lock on the door so mommy comes in. She drags Alessa to the attic and leaves her there for the rest of the day.

The hours go by slowly. Alessa's mind screams because she knows 'God' can see her. There is no way for her to leave. She suffers through hunger pains and accidents that make her clothes uncomfortably wet. It is not possible for her to sleep n these conditions. Even if sleep is something that could take her over tonight, it would not help her escape from this dreaded room. Dreaming in this room would only bring the horrifying image of 'God' to mind. During the middle of the night, Alessa finds a black crayon on the hard wood floor of the room. Automatically her hand picks it up and she begins to write a message on the barely visible walls before her. No thoughts are running through her head. She is not able to tell it is morning when it comes. She is still locked I a few hours more.

Mommy drags a very shaken Alessa out when the time is right. "Get in the bathtub you disgusting girl," mommy demands. "Look at the mess you've made! I should make you stay in those clothes!" Being shoved the whole way; Alessa is rushed to the bathroom. The rusty old faucet is pouring water into the old tub. Alessa frees her body from the soiled clothes and is immediately put in the water. The prickly sting of cold brought on by the water causes her to yelp. Her cry is drowned out by mommy's hand dunking her head in the water. She comes up coughing and gasping for air. Mommy roughly scrubs her daughter clean. "You stay there," mommy hisses. "I'll get you some clothes when _I _decide you're re ready to."

Alessa sits in the water, shivering. She would rather have stayed in her wet clothes. 'Mommy will come back any minute,' she thinks to herself. She waits patiently while she rocks back and forth. Her body slowly becomes used to the temperature but is still cold. A tiny bit of sunlight creeps onto the floor through the window. Minutes go by with a painfully slow pace but she is still patiently waiting for mommy.

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Updates will be soon.


	4. Chapter Three

Alessa goes to school feeling scared and ashamed. She knows that the other students will try to hurt her again. It is now an every day routine for them. To prolong this routine, she hides until it is time for all the children to go inside. In the classroom, she finds that her desk has been scribbled on. The children begin to giggle when she sits down. 'Witch' and 'Go home' stands out among all the graffiti. Mrs. Kim Gordon can do nothing but scold the children for laughing. She demands to know who committed the hurtful deed. There are no extra desks so Alessa is forced to sit where she is.

After lunch, Alessa decides to hide in the bathroom instead of going outside. It is the only thing she can do to avoid recess. In the stall, she pulls her feet up every time someone comes in. It is possible that someone would recognize her shoes and expose her. At the last five minutes, some older girls come. Alessa can tell they are older because of their voices. "Nah," one of them is saying. "My brother said she was here this morning."

Another girl says, "Maybe she went home."

"I doubt it. We would've seen her climb the fence."

"Yeah. She's probably hiding somewhere." It suddenly grows quiet and Alessa tries not to breathe. If she can hold it in long enough, they will leave. A few minutes pass before the squeak of the door signals that they have gone. She quietly lets the air get back into her lungs again. The bell rings in the hallway so she comes out of her hiding place. As she heads to the door, she is grabbed. The noise of the children coming in covers her yelp. The three girls that had beaten her up before now had a hold of her.

"Hiding from us were you?" the first girl says. It is obvious she is the leader of this small group. "Well we found you and now you're going to get what you missed out on yesterday." The beating commences and Alessa is pushed down to the ground. The toe end of their shoes hits her ribs hard. The door creaks signifying the entrance of an unknown person. The person stands there a moment then backs out. Tears soak Alessa's face while she is beaten ruthlessly. The salty liquid hits the floor and mixes with the thick red ooze that has run from her mouth. The kicking ceases but the relief Alessa feels is only temporary. She is lifted off the ground by the collar of her dress. "Make sure there's no one in the hallway," the leader says to one of her friends. While her friends check outside for teachers, threats are spat at the helpless child. "You're going to be sorry you little shit."

"It's all clear," a girl calls back. "Where are we going to take her?"

"Just shut up and follow me. Lisa, did you bring the stuff?"

"Yeah," the third girl says. She pulls out a piece of twine and uses it to tie Alessa's hands behind her back.

"Gag her," instructs the leader. Alessa shakes her head as she attempts to protest. "Shut up or I'll break your arm." To prevent them from putting anything in her mouth, she clamps her teeth together. With help from the other two girls, Alessa's mouth is pried open and a wad of paper towels is shoved in. It soaks up the saliva, making her throat feel as though it were stuffed with cotton. The leader twists a piece of cloth up and ties it around Alessa's head so it is in her mouth. The sides of her lips feel like they are being torn because the cloth creates so much pressure. They drag her down the hallway, down the stairs, and out the back door to the playground. The playground is completely desolate which makes it easy for them to go through with their task. After her feet are bound, she is placed on a swing. There she stays until one of the kindergarten classes come out to play. The children found her bloody and her face soaked with tears. She walked home humiliated and terrified.

Alessa's first grade teacher is immediately notified of her student's whereabouts. She is the only one willing to help the injured child. "Who did this to you?" She questions the little girl as she cleans the blood off. "You can tell me. If you want me to help you, it's important that you tell me who hurt you." The end of Alessa's tongues press against the back of her clenched teeth. She knows she cannot tell Mrs. Gordon or worse punishments will befall her. An extra dress the school keeps is slipped over her head. "Tomorrow I think I will have a talk with your mother."

Her eyes widen as she begins to protest, "No. You can't do that."

"She should know what's going on, Alessa."

"No, she can't."

"Alessa, is there something going on at home?" The child shakes her head wearily. "There isn't much time left so I want you to stay in here until school's over." The first grade teacher pats the child gently on the head then leaves. She sits on the cot in the nurse's office.

Claudia is sitting in the living room again once Alessa arrives at home. New bruises cover Claudia's face. "What happened?" Alessa asks quietly.

Claudia shakes her head, as she answers, "Nothing I just got into trouble."

"For what?"

"Why do you question me so?" Alessa does not respond to this. Never before has she heard another child speak in such a way. "Do you want to play cards again?"

"Okay. Let me go get them."

"I already have them. Your mother brought them to me. I've been shuffling them for hours while _you _were at school." She said this in such an accusing manner that Alessa felt like leaving her alone there and never returning.

"Why don't _you _go to school?" Alessa asks, also in an accusing tone.

"My father keeps me at home so I can study about God. Only those faithful will be saved once Paradise is brought upon us. Will you be saved, Alessa? Or will you be one of the damned?"

Alessa growls, "If this God you always speak of is so great, why does she allow bad things to happen? Why are the bruises on you not healed? Why is the dying not spared?"

"God does not need explanations for her logics. If you have faith you will understand."

"If you're so faithful, why can't you answer me? Can't you show me what I don't see?"

"Only God can show you the way." Alessa scowls and walks up the stairs to her room. She is tired of discussing 'God' with Claudia. It is an endless topic that keeps running in circles. The tread of footsteps catches Alessa's attention. She knows it is her mother who has probably come to punish her. To escape, she crawls under the bed. Her heart begins to pound against her bones at the sound of the door opening. The feet that carry the person who has entered are too small to be her mother's. It is Claudia who has come in uninvited. "Alessa," she calls quietly, "I'm sorry for upsetting you. I'm only trying to help. Alessa?"

Deciding to give up, Alessa shows herself. "I'm here," she says.

"Can you forgive me?"

"Yes, I forgive you. Do you still want to play cards?"

"I do," Claudia answers with a nod.

"Did you bring them up with you?"

"I did."

"Let's play then." They begin to play different card games that they both know. The talking that occurs between the two of them is kept at a minimum. They do not want to fight again so they do not speak to each other unless they have to. Once Claudia's father shows up, she embraces Alessa and whispers a goodbye. "Goodbye," Alessa says back. She then retreats to her room after they have gone. A sudden need to hide causes her to find safety under the blankets on her bed. Her head begins to ache and nausea fills her stomach with such disgusting bile that she wishes to vomit. It does not come though she gags numerous times. Because of the loudness of her heartbeat in her ears, she does not hear Dahlia come into the room. She does not see the devilish smile that slithers it's way on her mommy's face when she sees the speckles of blood on the sheet.

"The time is nearing," Dahlia whispers to herself as she steps back out into the hallway. Exhausted and weak, Alessa collapses. Her aching body takes time to rest though she is still plagued by the hurt in her stomach that awakes her tears and chases them down her cheeks. Throughout the night, she has dreams of demons, corpses, and an evil darkness that hangs heavy over the town. She wakes up screaming, dreading all that inhabits the night. She does not want to go back to sleep yet she does not want to stay awake. Even with the security of her blankets and her rag doll named Scarlet at her side, she feels there is no safe place. In the back of her mind she knows that there is something very, very wrong. It is when she sees the familiar, white rectangle lying lonely on the floor that an idea crawls in her head. The little lamp in the corner switches on, an action she has unconsciously made with her mind. Along with her sketchbook is a black crayon, which she will use to sketch the demons that torment her. Various creatures are brought to life on the paper. She works intently until the sun rises past the horizon and her sketchbook is nearly filled. Dahlia is pleased to see the horrifying images scattered about the floor. "It's time for school, Alessa," Dahlia announces.

"I'm not finished," Alessa says without taking her gaze off what she is creating.

"You can draw in school. I'll buy you a new sketchbook if you go."

"Okay mommy." She finishes her drawing then goes on her way to school. Once there she is thankful to see that recess has ended. She is anxious to get back to her drawings. An old bag she uses in replacement of her backpack is quickly placed in her locker where it belongs. She brings in the classroom her sketchbook and a black crayon. Immediately at her desk, she gets to work.

"I'm going to pass out some text books to you children," Mrs. Gordon announces, "and we're going to read some stories out loud in class today." The children pass the books down their rows to the last person.

One boy, as he is handing a book to Alessa, notices her drawings and asks, "What is that?"

"None of your business," she snaps. She does not know where this anger comes from but she does not care. To practice their reading skills, the children one by one begin to read the stories out loud from the book. When it comes time for Alessa's turn, she reads, "At this, the furious lizard hissed, 'I'll swallow you up in a single bite!' Then the huge creature attacked, jaws open wide. This was what the man wanted. Calmly drawing his bow, he shot into the lizard's gaping mouth. Effortlessly the arrow flew, piercing the defenseless maw. And the lizard fell down dead'." Reading that small section sparks an idea for a new drawing. She begins to sketch her version of this lizard. This lizard is going to be a true monster. Its jaw will open side ways, it will have no eyes, it will have no scales, and the color of its body will be that of blood and dirt. The children around her begin to notice her drawing. It awakens in them a fear they have never experienced until now.


	5. Chapter Four

To Sailor Gotland: No I didn't forget about Claudia. I plan on doing a story about her too. I'm currently working on the Maria and Angela story at the same time. Thanks for your review. I'm glad people are reading this. Anyway, the name I picked for Harry's wife seemed pretty suitable.

-

At school, the day starts out surprisingly nice. None of the other children say a word or even look at her. In class, the desks are moved far away from hers. She does not mind. On the contrary, she feels a sense of triumph because of the fear she has caused in them. She finds a place to sit at lunch with no trouble from the others. But during recess the three girls approach her. They follow her down to the playground, mocking her the whole way. When they reach the rocks, she stops and turns around. She does not say anything; instead she simply stares at the leader of the group. Her eyes seem to burn into the girl's soul. The smile painted upon the girl's face disappears quickly. She falls to the ground, her knees hitting the concrete with a loud crunch. Her retching brings up blood and it spills onto the rocks. Alessa knows that it is her power that has made this occur. She knows that somehow she is able to channel her power and use it for whatever she wants to. Every day she practices controlling it until she has mastered it.

It all seems to be going Alessa's way until she sees her mommy in the school's office. They make eye contact with each other. She can sense her mommy's anger. It makes her heart skip a beat. She comes home that day to find mommy waiting for her in the kitchen. "Alessa," mommy calls, "come here please." Alessa obeys and stands in the doorway. "I had a talk with your teacher today. She said some girls at school were giving you trouble. Is this true?"

"Yes," Alessa says.

"Do they need to be punished?" Alessa is not sure what mommy has in mind but she gets a bad feeling from it. She knows if mommy does anything it will only make things worse. The others may begin to torment her again at school.

"But mommy, wont they get their punishment from God?" A smile spreads across mommy's face. She is pleased at this answer.

"You're finally beginning to understand. You're right, Alessa. They will receive their harshest judgment from God once she brings Paradise upon us." Alessa stays in her room the rest of they day until she hears a visitor come. It is another man but not the same one as before, he is not the one who usually comes. This man is different. He is taller, his hair is slicked down, his eyes are red, and he is dressed up in a suit. Alessa hides by the stairway to listen.

The man asks, "Are you sure you can handle this?"

"Yes," Dahlia says. "I have everything planned out. If any problems should arise I can deal with it. Her power is growing though…"

"Is that a problem?"

"She could resist. She's starting to understand how to control her powers."

"So? What are you saying? You can't do it?"

"I don't know if I can get her to do it willingly," Dahlia says. "She has so much doubt I'm not sure if she will bring God and Paradise on her own. Her power is growing and she could easily refuse if she wanted." Alessa now realizes what is going on. Mommy wants to use her powers to bring about God. But Alessa will have no part in it. She has a feeling that 'paradise' is much different than it sounds.

"Well, you better have a back up plan then," the man says as he stands to go. "We can't let this fail." He leaves, letting the door slam shut behind him. Dahlia looks toward the stairs. Alessa hides before she is seen. Her heart begins to beat faster and faster in her chest when she hears the sound of footsteps approaching. There is a pause, leaving all silent in the house. After a moment the footsteps continue into the kitchen. Alessa quietly goes back to her room.

At night, mommy comes upstairs to Alessa's room. She takes Alessa out of bed and brings her to the hallway. Alessa wakes up. She knows this has something to do with what mommy and that man had been talking about. She drags her feet on the ground to slow mommy down. "Come along," Dahlia says.

"No," Alessa says. "No, I don't want to."

"Do what mommy tells you now. I just want you to lend me a teeny bit of your power, that's all."

"No! I don't want to do it."

"It would make everyone happy and it's for your own good too."

"But mommy, I just want to be with you. Just the two of us, please understand."

The look on Dahlia's face changes as she says, "I see. Maybe mommy has been wrong."

"Mommy?"

"Why didn't I see this before? There's no reason to wait. Herein lies the mother's womb, containing the power to create life. I could have done it all myself."

"Mommy?" She releases her grip on Alessa. She runs to her room and hides under the blankets. She holds her dear Scarlet close to her as she tries to sleep. Again bodies of the dead plague her dreams. Hideous monsters run free in the street. They lunge at anyone still living. The creatures look familiar to her. She panics when they begin to surround her. One by one they tear into her. Warm blood flies smoothly through the cold of the darkness. Above her she sees a familiar demon looking down. It screeches, sending a shiver down her spine and an unbearable pain in her body.

A sharp pain stings the inside of her stomach. Her eyes open to see the red glow of fire spreading throughout the room. Ropes bind her down to the bed, keeping her from escaping. Tears run from the corner of her eyes, down the sides of her face, and melts on her pillow. In her heart, she knows who caused the fire and why. Slowly the fire mercilessly consumes the objects in her room. As she lies there, waiting for the flames to burn her skin, she tries to channel her power. There is a way for her to keep the bad things from happening.

Outside, Dahlia watches the burning commence from a safe distance. She waits until the flames go out before approaching the remains. Badly burned but still alive, Alessa weeps. Though she knows she cannot, Dahlia's first thought is to leave the charred child there. Instead, she decides to take her to Dr. Kaufman. It is still possible for God to be born and he is the one who can make it happen. The child moans the whole walk to Alchemilla hospital. Once there, she walks straight to Kaufman's office. "What happened?" he asks.

"Something went wrong," Dahlia says. "She's still alive. I don't know what happened."

"Okay." He pushes the intercom button on his phone and says, "Lisa Garland, come to my office." Dahlia holds the child in her lap as she impatiently waits. A young blonde woman enters the room. A shocked look comes over her face when she sees the child. "Don't just stand there, help me with this," Kaufman snaps. After she is on the stiff cot, an IV is hooked to Alessa's hand. Lisa tries to soothe the child with comforting words as she is rushed to the elevator. They begin to wrap the wounds once they find a vacant room in the basement. Lisa does not understand why the child is brought down here when there are nicer rooms on the second floor. "Lisa," Kaufman says. "I want you to take care of this girl."

Lisa says, "But I- I don't know if I can. I mean, how long can she last? Her burns are so bad. She has to be in so much pain."

"You can handle her. I could fire you in case you've forgotten. You could probably go to jail even."

"Okay, okay. I'll handle it. But I don't see how she can go on much longer. Her wounds are too severe."

"Just do your job. Oh, and one more thing: Do _not_ discuss the condition of this patient with anyone else. I'll pay you if that's what you want but it's important that you do this." Lisa nods then goes back to caring for the severely burned child. "I'll be back to look her over," Kaufman says as he leaves. The child's sad eyes stare into Lisa's, 'causing sorrow to crawl into Lisa's heart. She looks away to prevent tears from flowing.

"You'll be okay," she whispers. "I'll take care of you, I promise." She stays by the child until Dr. Kaufman comes in. Three others follow him in, two doctors and the child's mother. They stand by the bed, examining the child. Lisa hides by the door but stays to watch what they are going to do. The helpless girl squeezes her eyes shut, as they look her over. She recognizes Dr. Kaufman as the man who was at their house, the man dressed up in a suit.

Mommy looks at the bandages covering Alessa's body. Without taking her eyes away she says, "Everything is going according to plan, sheltered in the womb."

"But it's not done yet," one of the other doctors says. "Half of the soul is lost. That is why the seed is dormant."

"And what soul remains captured in that husk is buried deep down in the subconscious," the second doctor says.

"No, no. These are just stalling tactics," mommy insists. "If we lend a hand we will be able to get power. Never fear, the promise shall not be broken."

"But the power we can draw now will be very weak," the first doctor says. "Almost nothing unless we get the other half of the soul."

"We'll use a magical spell. Feeling the child's pain, it is sure to come."

"But that will take time," the second doctor says.

Lisa looks at the people in the room. She is not sure what they are talking about but she knows she has a bad feeling about it. Dahlia notices the paleness in Lisa's face and says, "Dear girl, there is nothing to worry about. Maybe you need some rest, you look a little tired."

"No, no," Lisa says. "I'm fine. I'm just a little tired. I didn't get much sleep last night."

Dr. Kaufman walks over to Lisa and hands her a bottle. "Take this, it will make you feel better," he says. "Then you can take some time to relax if you wish." She takes the bottle with some hesitation but seems to trust what she has been told.

Once she has left with it, Dahlia asks, "What was that you gave her?"

"The 'White Claudia'. Don't worry, she wont be a problem. We need to figure out how to get the other half here."

"Leave that to me. I've got the perfect plan."

In the outskirts of a small town an hour away from Silent Hill, a car makes its way down the road. Harry Mason and his wife Emily are on their way back home. A comfortable silence hangs between them because they do not have to talk to understand one another. Emily stares out the window, taking in the surroundings. Her eyes narrow in confusion when she spots something that she cannot make out. "Harry, stop," she says. "Stop the car!" His foot hits the brake and they jerk forward. Emily frantically takes her seatbelt off so she can get out. They walk over to the ditch where the sound of crying reaches their ears. Harry scoops the baby into his arms. The crying slowly ceases as the couple looks down at the baby. "How can anyone just dump off a baby like that?" Emily asks, a rhetorical question. "Let's take her home with us."

"Shouldn't we check with the hospital at first?" Harry says.

"I suppose so… Can we bring her in tomorrow? I don't want her to go hungry or dirty. She doesn't even have any clothes under this old blanket. I don't want to give her up in the condition she's in."

"I know. We don't have to give her up. Maybe we can keep her. But she'll need to be checked for any sign of … anything." Emily takes the child in her arms and they get back into the car. By the time they reach their home, Emily has an idea. She tells Harry that she is going to call the abandoned baby Cheryl.


	6. Chapter Five

I just made up the name for his wife because she doesn't have one. As for inspiration, I wait until something good comes to me and write it down. That's why it takes me so long to write the chapters; otherwise I rush it.

-

Emily holds Cheryl and sits next to her husband in the doctor's office. The doctor leans back in his chair while he speaks to the couple, "Mr. and Mrs. Mason, I can't find any kind of record for this child. No birth certificate, no information about the parents- there's nothing. The only answer I can offer you is that she was born at home. The parents didn't want her and dropped her off on the side of the road. If this is the case then I see no problem in letting the two of you take care of her. But if someone reports a missing child, we'll have to look into it."

"We understand doctor," Harry says. "Let us know if you hear anything." They walk out and go back home. Emily decides that they should buy Cheryl some clothes. They take the child to a local store that sells a little bit of everything. There they find some clothes and toys for Cheryl.

"Where is she going to sleep?" Emily asks.

I suppose we should buy a crib or something. Can we find something like that around here?"

"I don't know. We need more diapers and some bottles too. Maybe we should go to the city to buy this stuff."

In the basement of Alchemilla Hospital at Silent Hill, Lisa changes Alessa's bandages. This is the only patient that she is allowed to care for. It is boring to sit in this room all day and do nothing unless the child cries. This hardly seems to be a good way for Lisa to get any skills in her job. The mother hardly ever comes in to visit with the poor child. Lisa begins to think that Dahlia does not care. It is obvious to see that she does not seem the least bit bothered. Lisa, however, feels tears well up when she makes eye contact with the girl. She can feel her pain deep down in the pit of her stomach. But after she takes the pills that Dr. Kaufman gave to her, she feels much better.

Dahlia comes during the night with something raggedy in her hand. It looks like it has been recovered from the fire. She puts it down next to Alessa and says, "Here, Alessa, I found Scarlet. I bet you missed her, didn't you?" Alessa's hand touches the featureless doll's head. "I can buy you a sketchbook if you'd like too." The weary child nods. Mommy traces the burn on Alessa's face causing her to whimper.

"Don't do that," Lisa says gently. "You'll hurt her. She's in enough pain already."

"Has Dr. Kaufman come in yet?"

"No not since yesterday. Would you like me to tell you when he does?" Dahlia walks out with no answer to Lisa's question. Lisa leans forward in her chair and pushes Alessa's hair out of her face. "Did she hurt you?" she asks. "She did, didn't she? Does she hurt you a lot?" Lisa finds all her answers in Alessa's sad eyes. They give off a deep hurt that a child show never know and silently tells her story. "Don't worry, I wont let her hurt you."

Harry and Emily do not get home until six at night. Emily puts a fresh diaper on Cheryl while Harry hauls the stuff in. He sets the bags on the floor then brings the box with the crib in it inside. "Can you help me set this up?" he calls.

"Okay," she says, "hold on." She carries Cheryl to the bedroom where Harry is looking at the directions. The confused look on his face makes her smile. "Don't understand the directions? I can help you?"

"No, I got it." She holds Cheryl in her arms and has the directions in her hands so Harry can see them while he sets it up. It takes him an hour to finally get the hang of it. Emily feeds Cheryl in the kitchen as Harry puts the finishing touches on the contraption. "It's finished," he finally calls. "We don't have a mattress."

"What?"

"We forgot to get a mattress for the crib." The sound of her laugh causes him to smile. "What should we do?"

"We can get one tomorrow and Cheryl can sleep by me again. Good thing I don't move around in my sleep a lot." Cheryl makes a gleeful gurgle as she drinks milk from the bottle.

Dr. Kaufman comes into Alessa's room where Lisa is injecting something into the IV. "What is that?" he asks, making her jump.

"It's a pain killer," she tells him.

"Don't give him that."

"Why not? She's suffering. She needs it." Kaufman takes the needle from her and throws it away. She gets up to retrieve it but he pushes her back into her chair.

"You will do what I tell you to do! Do _not_ give her pain killers!"

"If you don't like what I'm doing then get someone else to take care of her! Why is it such a big deal anyway?"

"Just do what I tell you or you'll find yourself on the street!" He leaves, slamming the door shut behind him. Lisa pops two more of the pills in her mouth and sips some water to wash it down. She has been considering quitting for some time. She hates working at this hospital- at least with Dr. Kaufman anyway. He is constantly yelling at the workers here. Few get special treatment from him though she has never been able to figure out why. She has been considering going to work for the other hospital. The one that is on the other side of town: Brookhaven Hospital.

She sits in the chair next to Alessa and stares into space. She stays completely blank until something catches her eye. Something small and black falls from the ceiling. She looks around on the floor for it but sees nothing. She stares at the corner of the room A light _clink_ makes her head turn toward the sink. Near the drain a spider sits. "Gross," she says as she turns under the water on full blast. It swirls around the porcelain sink before finally falling down the drain. The water stops falling from the faucet once she pushes the handle back to its place. "I hate spiders," she mumbles to herself. Just as she is turning around something catches her eye. In the bottom of the sink, the legs of that spider appear at the top of the drain. "Don't give up do you?" She turns the water back on but it does not do any good. The disgusting bug pulls itself out of the small hole. It begins to climb up the wall of the sink.

Alessa watches Lisa from her bed. Lisa is wiping her arm frantically. Alessa tries to catch what is going on but sees nothing. Lisa stomps on the ground a few times and grinds her heel into the floor. "Come on, die," she growls. Alessa squints but still sees nothing. '_What is she doing?_' she wonders. Lisa leaves the room. She comes back with a can of bug spray but seems confused. "Where did it go?" she turns to Alessa and says, "Did you see where that spider went to?" Alessa shakes her head. She does not see anything on the floor.

Lisa is not allowed to go home. She has to stay and sleep at the hospital. She sleeps on an extra cot in the corner of Alessa's room. She is awakened each time Alessa cries in her sleep. Lisa does not know what kinds of nightmares are created in the little girl's mind but she tries to comfort her anyway. One night, she is awakened by the sound of Kaufman's voice. "Get up," he says as he shakes her. "I want you to go out in the hall for a minute." He grabs her by her arm and leads her out. Dahlia follows him back into the room. Lisa tries to watch from the doorway. As she stands by Alessa's bed, Dahlia begins to mumble something in a different language. It continues for several minutes. Alessa whimpers and Lisa covers her ears. The unknown words sting the nurse's mind. Miles away from Silent Hill, a baby cries in pain. Emily tries to calm Cheryl down but it does not cease for hours.


	7. Chapter Six

Thank to everyone who reviewed this story. I'm not sure how long it will continue on for. Maybe up to chapter 10 or 11, just some information for you all.

As Alessa grows older, conditions at the hospital grow worse. The nurses very slowly become very ill, as do the doctors. Patients begin to die off one by one. This causes talk amongst the people in the town. Dr. Kaufman becomes increasingly agitated. He constantly lashes put at his co-workers. Lisa is one of the few that fights back when her head is straight. Unbeknownst to her, she is suffering from the drug that Kaufman gave her to keep her calm. During the night Lisa sees and hears things that frighten her. Alessa's cries always snap her out of it though. The burned girl cries often now. Her screams feel deafening to Lisa's ears. She tries everything she can to calm the child but nothing seems to work. Miles away, a baby sobs at the same time as the burned child. Emily, like Lisa, cannot find a way to comfort the child. Both sit with the children wait for them to go back to sleep.

One night Lisa wakes up from a nightmare. She does not remember it clearly but she remembers seeing dead bodies: sexless, faceless, dead bodies. She tries to calm herself down by taking in deep breaths. After her heart stops pounding in her chest, she walks over to the sink. The silver handle for cold water turns with ease but does not work right away. She turns it off and turns it back on again. This time it runs but it does not spill water in the sink. Instead, a dark, thick, red liquid pours from the faucet. Lisa begins to panic when she sees this and tries to turn it off but it just keeps running. She yells for someone to come help her. "What's wrong?" Kaufman asks.

"Look," she says, pointing to the sink.

"What? The water is running. Is something broken?"

"That's not water, it's blood!" Kaufman shakes his head at her. "Don't you see it?"

"I see water. Lisa, are you sure you're feeling all right? Maybe you need to get some more sleep."

"Yeah, maybe." She swallows another pill before she lies back down on the cot. Kaufman turns the water off and goes back out in the hallway.

"What was wrong?" Dahlia asks.

Kaufman says, "She's starting to hallucinate. Dahlia, are you sure that spell is working? Do you have something else we can try?"

"Give it time, doctor. Alessa's other half will come but you must be patient."

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you," Emily sings a year later. Cheryl is sitting in a high chair looking at the bright candle on the cake. "Happy birthday, baby Cheryl. Happy birthday to you." Emily claps and Cheryl gurgles. "Can you blow out the candle, hm?" The baby just looks around, first at Emily then at Harry. Her curious expression suddenly turns sad and she begins to cry. "Oh, honey, it's okay," Emily says as she picks her up. Harry cuts the cake then takes the candle out. Emily feeds Cheryl a tiny bit of frosting when she is calm again.

"Do you want me to get her present?" Harry asks.

"If you want to you can." He goes into the living room to retrieve a stuffed doll. She has tan yarn hair, a red cloth dress, and with the exception of her nose, her facial features have been sewn on. He puts the doll in Cheryl's tiny little arms. She stares at it then sucks on the doll's hand.

"At least it's clean," Harry says. "We'll probably have to wash that thing often."

"She seems to like it though. That's good. She likes the frosting on the cake too."

Emily and Harry love Cheryl so much that they often forget she is not their biological daughter. They found her at the right time too. They found her at the time they were considering having children. The doctor never calls them to tell them anything about the mysterious child. He is just as puzzled as they are about where she came from. Emily sometimes wishes she could meet Cheryl's real mother so she could show the woman the beautiful baby she left behind. But if she knew anything about where Cheryl really came from she would not dare to do that. Dahlia would take the child away. In the middle of the night, both Alessa and Cheryl begin to cry again. The noise rescues Lisa from another nightmare. That is the only kind of drama she has been having lately. She goes to Alessa's side and holds her hand until the crying stops.

Lisa looks through her bag and notices that she is out of the pills that Dr. Kaufman gave her. She is taking them a lot lately but it does not seem to work for very long. Maybe she needs to take more. For a moment, she leaves Alessa alone. She goes upstairs to Dr. Kaufman's office. He is not there so she looks through his cabinets. An unlabeled file falls on the floor. "What's this?" Lisa asks herself as she picks it up. In it there are documents on a drug, something called 'The White Claudia'. She has never heard of anything like that before.

"Lisa," Kaufman snaps. "What are you doing? Put that down!" She does what she is told.

"Remember those pills you gave me? Well I'm out of them," Lisa says.

"Well you should've asked instead of going through my stuff!"

"You weren't in here!"

"You could've waited!" He walks over to his desk and digs through the drawers. After a moment, he hands her a bottle of pills. "There you go. You got what you wanted now go watch that kid." Lisa growls but just walks away. She pops a few pills in her mouth, swallows them, and goes back to bed. In the morning, Lisa has to change Alessa's bandages. It is a hard process that takes a long time. Alessa is cooperative though so it speeds the procedure up. Lisa gags when the first bandage is removed. Red and yellow substances are mixed together on the charred skin. Lisa grabs a wet washcloth to clean the skin. Eventually, she calls another nurse for help. Together they clean and re-bandage the child. Dr. Kaufman walks in just as they are finishing up. Instantly he becomes furious and begins to yell, "What is she doing here?"

"I needed help," Lisa argues. "I can't do this by myself!"

"What did I tell you about confidentiality!"

"I didn't even tell her anything! I needed help changing her bandages!"

"You," Kaufman says pointing at the other nurse, "come with me." The girl does what she is told but it is easy to tell that she is frightened. Lisa sits down in a chair next to Alessa and waits. She knows Dr. Kaufman will becoming back to yell at her about something else. Since she cannot go anywhere anyways, she waits. Nearly a half an hour passes before he comes back. Immediately she notices that he is wearing different clothes. "How is she?" he asks.

"Um, I'm not really certain of her condition," Lisa says. "I think she needs some painkillers though. She cries a lot at night because of it."

"No painkillers. I've told you that before."

"I know but why?"

"Just do as I tell you. I give you directions and you follow them. Got it? I need to look her over. Why don't you get her something to eat?"

Lisa walks out into the hallway and up the stairs. Many of the halls are empty. Usually it is packed with people running around trying to get their jobs done. She stops by the storage room to pick up some painkillers. She does not care what Dr. Kaufman says Alessa needs the drug. Once she has successfully concealed the items in her pockets, she heads to the kitchen. While she waits for the cook to finish making breakfast, she takes a seat at a table by another nurse. "Hi, Michelle," Lisa says.

"Hey, Lisa. How have you been? I haven't seen you in a while," Michelle responds.

"I'm okay. A little frustrated with Dr. Kaufman though. He can be a pain in the ass sometimes."

"So where have you been?"

"Dr. Kaufman wants me to take care of a patient in the basement. 'You're not allowed to reveal anything about the patient,' he says. I'm so sick of him lecturing me. I'd rather be up here with you guys."

"No you wouldn't," Michelle says. She no longer has a smile on her face. "Things up here are real bad. We're losing nurses because everyone's getting sick. The patients are dying too. No matter what we try we haven't been able to save one. They're always coughing up blood and bile. Some of them have nightmares too. I've heard a few people screaming at night. You should hear them scream, Lisa. Something is very, very wrong." Lisa does not know what to say about any of this. "I think Dr. Kaufman has something to do with all this."

Lisa says, "I wouldn't doubt it."

"And that woman too. I've seen her walking around at night too. You can tell some of the patients are scared of her. Just look at their eyes. She gives me a bad feeling. I get sick when I look at her."

"I'll see if I can find out what's going on. Okay? But, if you really feel that bad then get out of here before anything happens to you too." Michelle nods then they go their separate ways. Lisa takes the food down to Alessa's room. Kaufman is already gone. She sets the food down on the stand and takes out the painkillers. "Here you go," she whispers as she injects it into the IV. "That will make you feel better." Once that is done, she begins to feed the child.

That night neither child wakes up crying. Emily does get up, however, and goes to the bathroom. She feels sick. Her stomach churns painfully in her body. Her retching brings up blood. She knows this is not a good sign. Though Harry does not know it, this has been going on for a few days. She is afraid to tell him because she feels it will pass soon and she does not want him to worry. After her stomach has settled, she returns to bed. For a moment she considers taking some medicine but then she realizes that it will do no good. A few hours pass before she finally falls asleep.

Lisa swallows a few more of those pills then sits on the cot she has to sleep on. She tries to think of a way to get into Kaufman's office without getting caught. She decides to try it when he is checking on Alessa. A dripping sound catches Lisa's attention. She looks around the room to find out where it is coming from. At first, her eyes catch nothing then she sees it is the faucet again. It is dripping blood into the sink. When she walks over there, she sees that it is almost completely full. While she watches it, the red liquid begins to drip faster and faster until it is running full blast by itself. The substance spills out onto the floor and she tries to turn it off. Her skin and clothes are now covered in blood. The faucet does not stop running. She sees the blood on her hands and flees to the bathroom. In her reflection, the blood is gone. Her clothes are spotless, not even a streak of dirt remains. To regain her composure, she takes a few deep breaths before going back. The floor is also clean along with the sink. She takes a few more pills and goes to bed.

In the morning almost a month later, Kaufman comes by to check on Alessa again. This time he is inspecting her burns. Lisa slips out of the room. She hurries up the stairs to Kaufman's office. She knows that he keeps all the important flies in his desk somewhere. As she begins her search, the phone rings. The seemingly loud sound causes her to freeze. It keeps on ringing until finally the machine clicks over. "Michael," a male voice growls. "How is the girl? What's her condition? You'd better speed this up! We're tired of waiting!" The line goes dead and the answering machine turns off. She does not know how she knows but it is obvious to her that the man is talking about Alessa. Lisa has a feeling that the child is in danger. She looks through the drawers until she comes to a locked one. She figures the files are in there. This time, she will leave the drawer alone but next time she will get into it by picking the lock.

Emily is at home with Cheryl while Harry is at the grocery store. Little Cheryl has not cried for continuous hours in some time now. Emily is still puzzled as to what brought that on before. "Cheryl," Emily says gently. "What're you doing?" She rubs her nose against the baby's nose as she speaks. "What're you doing?" Cheryl giggles happily. Emily has been feeling worse these past weeks. She has not gotten any better. She has been good at hiding her condition from Harry though. He has questioned her when she has a bad cough but other than that he has no idea. During the night, she gets up again to be sick. Her body becomes weak from all the retching and convulsing. On the way back to the room, her body just shut down on her. Everything suddenly stops working it seems. She falls onto the floor and lies there. She is trying to catch her breath but it is impossible for her to get enough air in her lungs. When she tries to call for Harry, her voice comes out in a soft moan. He does not find her until morning.


	8. Chapter Seven

"I don't know what to do anymore. How can he expect me to save her? Her eyes don't open, I'm getting a pulse but she's just barely breathing. Why? What is keeping that child alive! But I won't tell a soul, I promise. So please…"

Dr. Kaufman now makes sure Alessa receives no painkillers. Ever since he has taken them away, Alessa's eyes remain shut. Lisa assumes that it is too painful to have her eyes open. Sometimes it looks as though the girl is dead. She hardly ever moves unless she is crying from the pain. Lisa has started taking more than two pills at a time to relax her. But it causes her nightmares to become more and more realistic. Kaufman has often seen her doing unusual things or screaming about something that is not there.

Harry is very upset when he finds his wife unconscious on the floor. Immediately he runs to the phone to call for help. He is not told to move her incase she is injured. The baby begins to cry so Harry must tend to her while he waits impatiently. When the ambulance arrives, he and the baby go with it to the hospital. Emily is rushed to the emergency room. "Sir," a nurse says, "You're going to have to stay in the waiting room now. Is there anything I can get you?"

"I need something to feed her," he says. "Please."

"Okay. Have a seat and I'll find something. I'll just be a moment." Harry sits down in one of the chairs. Cheryl gurgles in his arms. He is afraid for Emily. He is afraid he did not find her in time. If she dies he will never forgive himself. Cheryl turns her fragile little head into Harry's chest. She hears his heat pound out of nervousness. The nurse returns with a bottle filled with formula. "Here, she can have this," she says.

"Thank you."

Lisa has to change Alessa's bandages once a week now. Kaufman has warned her that she may have to do it more often than that. He will not let her ask for help from any of the nurses or the doctors. They are not allowed to see the child under any circumstances. Dahlia hardly ever visits her suffering daughter. When she does, Lisa has to leave the room. She sits out in the hall for a long time. She decides that next time, instead of waiting, she will try to get the files from Kaufman's office. One night the nurse Michelle wanders downstairs to Alessa's room. She looks pale and sick. "What's wrong?" Lisa asks her.

"Upstairs," she says, "everyone's sick… They're dying, Lisa. It's spreading outside too. In the paper it said the flu was getting around but that's not it. Something's killing us."

"What do you mean?"

"People are moving away because they're scared. I'm leaving too. I can't take it anymore. You should leave too."

"I can't. I have to stay here and take care of her."

"This is all that woman's fault. She wants to kill us! Look at what she's done to that poor child! Dr. Kaufman knows about it too. I heard them talking about it. They don't want her to get better. They said-"

"Michelle! What are you doing down here?" Kaufman demands.

"I'm getting out of here and Lisa is coming with me."

"Is that so? … Well, why don't you come to my office and I'll give you your final check. Lisa, you wait here." The two leave the room. Lisa slips her heels off and goes to see what is going on. The office door shuts so she stands by to listen. She hears Kaufman's muffled voice saying something about leaving. Michelle begins to argue then she screams and a shot is fired. Lisa's eyes widen automatically, her hand rises to her mouth. Immediately she flees back to Alessa's room. She sits in the chair and begins to sob. Luckily for her, Kaufman does not come back right away. Alessa can hear Lisa crying and it makes her feel sad.

"She's comatose," the doctor tells Harry. "We're not exactly sure what set it off but her whole body seems to have shut down- with the exception of her heart of course. She isn't breathing on her own so we've hooked her up to a machine to help her."

"When can I see her?" Harry finally asks.

"Not until tomorrow. We still have some tests to run and I'm not sure how long they will take. I guarantee you can see her in the morning though." Harry just nods his head slightly. Once Cheryl is securely in her car seat, the two head home. Harry has no time to grieve over the condition of his wife; he has a baby to take care of. All he can do is pray that she will wake up in the morning. Cheryl cries and screams at night. The noises she makes are horrible. She sounds as though someone is beating her. Harry picks her up and rocks her. No matter what he tries, it does not help. She cries until early in the morning. Then it ceases and they both fall asleep. They do not go back to the hospital until after lunchtime. Emily has numerous tubes running from her body to help her survive. Harry hates to see her this way. Cheryl seems to recognize her mother because she reaches for her.

"No Cheryl," Harry says. "Mommy's not going to pick you up." His breath hitches in his throat and forces him to choke up. Cheryl's angelic face turns to the source of the noise. She sees her father try to hold himself together so he does not cause a scene. Cheryl makes a sound that is almost as if she is trying to comfort her father. He puts his hand on the baby's head and swallows his emotions. It goes down with a bitter pain left in his stomach.

The doctor comes in after fifteen minutes. Harry sits in a chair with Emily's hand clasped in his own. "Excuse me, Mr. Mason," the doctor says. "I'd like to have a word with you if you don't mind." A nurse comes in and takes Cheryl. Harry follows the doctor to the hallway. "One of the tests we ran was a blood test. We found an unusual virus in her bloodstream. It's unlike anything we have ever seen before. But we're still not sure why her body shut down though. When we know something more. I'll be sure to tell you."

"Thank you, doctor."

Lisa is feeling a little better now. Her tears have quit flowing and she is calmer. Alessa is crying again. Lisa finally convinces herself that she has to go upstairs. She has to get into the storage room where the painkillers are hidden. She slips her shoes off so the heel of them will not be heard clicking around in the hallway. The first floor appears to be empty but Lisa keeps as quiet as she can. Up on the second floor is a storage room. Her feet slide along the dusty floor to the end of the hall. As she gets closer to the door an awful smell reaches her nose. It causes her eyes to water. She brings her hands up to her face to block the stench. The door swings open with noiseless ease. The room is too dark to see anything. She rubs her hand against the wall until she finally finds the light switch. When the room is lit, Lisa sees the bodies of nurses all over the floor. One of the nurses is Michelle. Lisa bites down on her tongue. She tastes blood but it is the only way to keep from screaming. Without closing the door or turning the light off, she runs back down the hall. On her way back to the staircase, she falls. Panic and fear set into her mind when she sees the cause of her body slamming against the floor. Blood runs from the storage room down the hall and down the steps. She crawls to the first floor to another storage room. This one is even farther back and locked. A bobby pin from her hair aids her in opening the door up. Inside the cool room is some medicine. Only a few painkillers remain. She has a feeling Dr. Kaufman has done something with most of them. On the way back, Lisa discovers the blood is no longer on the floors.

Alessa is still crying when Lisa returns. She injects the medicine into the IV. Within twenty minutes, the crying stops. Lisa takes a few more pills then tries to get the dirt off her clothes. There is no blood on her clothes like she thought there would be. The faucet squeaks on and as Lisa uses the cold liquid to cool her face down it starts to get warmer. She looks down to see blood in her hands. A panicked gasp escapes her throat. Blood is filling up the sink even though the drain is not plugged, and voices of the murdered doctors and nurses echo in the room. Her reflection in the cracked mirror shows that her skin is charred, cracked, and bleeding. Her back hits the wall and she slides down to the floor. Alessa can hear the nurse sob.

Emily stays in the comatose state for almost a year. When she does wake up, she sees her loving husband and their daughter waiting for her. "Emily," Harry says in shock. "You're awake." Her head bobs slightly saying that yes, she is awake. She finds it difficult to move any part of her body. Harry presses the button to call the nurse. "Lie still, honey. Someone's coming to help you." Her eyelids feel heavy which makes it hard for her to keep them open. She tries as hard as she can though because she wants a nurse or a doctor to see that she is no longer sleeping. The uniformed woman that comes in takes a glance at Emily then leaves. She comes back with a doctor. The two proceed to look over Mrs. Mason. After they leave, Harry notices the sad expression that is painted on his wife's face. "What's wrong?" he asks her.

"I had such horrible dreams," she says. "I don't know where I was. Everything was dark. These horrible creatures hid in the darkest places. There was blood everywhere, dead people just… There was a little girl. She was crying. I could hear her. Her skin burned up and she…" Tears begin fall from her eyes. Harry tries to comfort his wife the best he can. He lets her hold Cheryl so she feels a little better. Seeing the child stops her from crying. An hour later, the doctor pulls him aside.

"We're going to do some more tests," he says to Harry. "We need to see if that virus is still in her or if her body managed to kill it off. I hope you don't mind me saying that I'm surprised she's still alive."

"I'm glad that she is," Harry responds. Like the doctor he is also surprised.

"Hopefully we only expected more from this virus than it actually had. It may have been weaker than we originally thought."

Emily is not allowed to go home until she regains her strength. On the ride home, she sits in the back with Cheryl. She is still a little groggy from the drugs they had her on. Cheryl on the other hand bounces happily in her car seat. Emily stares out the window, watching the road as it rolls under the tires of the car.


	9. Chapter Eight

Emily is not the same when she comes back from the hospital. She wakes up in the middle of the night because of the hauntingly bad dreams she has. Cheryl sometimes wakes up too, crying. "You see it, don't you?" Emily asks. The child cannot respond in words that are understandable. She is taken into her mother's arms and rocked gently back and forth. Though the child does not stop crying, she feels safe with her mother. Lately when Emily gets something as simple as a cough, it has a greater affect than normal. She tries to isolate herself any time she gets a cold so that she will not pass it onto her family. Harry starts to wonder if he should take her back to the doctor but she refuses to go.

When she is not sick, Emily spends most of her time with Cheryl. Sometimes she just sits in a chair holding Cheryl in her arms. As the baby's third birthday rolls around, her mother is put back in the hospital. Emily considers herself lucky to be able to listen to Cheryl's sometimes-meaningless babble. Harry sits in the corner during each visit and watches the two communicate. "Who is this?" Emily asks enthusiastically as she shows her daughter a picture from her first birthday.

Cheryl says, "A bee bee."

"That's right, a baby. Do you know what that baby's name is?"

"A no."

"That baby's name is Cheryl. I don't know anyone named Cheryl, do you?"

"Dat's me! I sheeral." Emily smiles and strokes the girl's hair.

"That's right you are. Are you being good for daddy?"

"Yes, mommy."

"Good girl." She hugs her daughter tightly and tries not to get upset. On the way home, Harry stops at a store with Cheryl to buy some flowers for Emily. Cheryl is excited to give her mother the present. "Thank you, sweetie. Come give me a hug." Cheryl grins as she hugs her mother. Harry does not allow Cheryl to go with him for the next visit. She is left with a babysitter instead. "Where's Cheryl?" Emily asks.

"She's with a babysitter right now," Harry says. "How are you feeling?"

She lifts her shoulders up in a shrug. "I'm still alive."

"What about your nightmares? Are they still really bad?"

"They're worse."

"Have you thought about talking to someone about them?"

"I'm not crazy," she says.

"That's not what I meant. Maybe they would stop if you talked to someone about it."

"I can't. They'll think I'm insane and put me away. Sometimes I wonder myself." He does not know how to respond to this. He wishes for a way to help her but he does not know what to do. For now, he just holds her hand and tries to comfort her.

"If you need anything, tell me." She nods slightly.

That night, her nightmares take a new form. In her dream, she sees Cheryl sitting on the ground, crying. The pace- where ever they are- is buried in fog. It is impossible to see anything around them through the thick, white sheet. Emily approaches her daughter and reaches for her. When their skin makes contact, an image of a screeching demon sweeps through her mind. She hears Cheryl scream; her surroundings are suddenly covered in blood. She wakes up sweating and shaking. The dream seems only to have lasts an instant but she has never felt her heart race so fast. It is a relief to her to see Cheryl's bright face in the morning.

"Ma," Cheryl calls as she walks in with a bag. "Gotta present for you!"

"Another one? How nice. Thank you, honey," Emily says. The rag do that is held out to Emily is the one Cheryl received for her first birthday. "I can't take this, honey."

"She wanna stay wiff you, mommy."

Emily keeps the doll, and it never leaves her side. Her nightmares become even worse with each passing day. "Daddy, help me. Daddy, where are you?" Cheryl's voice calls in her dreams. Emily sees a world full of monsters and darkness in her mind when she sleeps. Blood gives color to everything around her. Little feet patter in the distance, which draws the concerned mother further into the dark fog. As she travels down the unknown road, she hears Cheryl's voice calling. "Where are you?" Emily opens her mouth to shout back but nothing comes out. Eventually the road ends and she finds herself in an attic. The wretched smell makes her gag. The floorboards are dirty, the ceiling is low, and numerous odd pictures are sketched on the walls. In the corner of the small room, Cheryl cries. She is hiding under a table. Her dress is a dark blue, not the same one as earlier. She looks a little thinner too. Emily tries to piece al this information together in her mind. It does not make any sense to her at all. Words in an unknown language begin to fill the silence in the air. She covers her ears in an attempt to block it out. A scream makes the voice suddenly stop. Emily uncovers her ears as she looks around the room. Blood falls like rain from the ceiling. Dead bodies appear everywhere on the floor. Some of the bodies are children, but one that is barely recognizable is more significant than the others. This one resembles Cheryl.

Emily wakes up in tears. She holds the rag doll close to her heart as she rocks back and forth. The next time Harry comes to visit, she tells him, "You'd better keep a close watch on Cheryl." He is not sure why she has said this but the fear in her voice shakes him.

At home, Cheryl has her own bad experiences. Sometimes during the day she will suddenly stop what she is doing and vomit. It makes no difference that she is never sick prior to the episode. The odd pictures that she creates in her sketchbook give Harry the chills. Whenever her drawing pad is filed up, she resorts to using chalk on the sidewalk. Her humming can be heard through the open window. The colored cylinders spill out onto the concrete when the container is turned upside down. One of her first sketches is of her mom on a hospital bed (it is obvious to Harry after his daughter points out which colored blob is what). Then she begins to make weird animals and people that are deformed in some way. The people are faceless, featureless things with claws. Some of the animals have bloody limbs and sharp teeth. The pictures worry Harry. He considers taking her to a child psychologist.

Cheryl begins to have nightmares after Emily has warned Harry to keep an eye on her. The three year old goes to bed exhausted with damp hair as a result of her recent bath. "You all clean?" Harry asks.

"I'm skeauky keen, daddy," she announces proudly.

"Good. Now get in bed and I'll tuck you in." She squirms excitedly under the blankets before she settles. Harry kisses her forehead. "Good night, sweetie."

"Nigh-nigh, daddy." The light goes off and the night-light by the door turns on. It takes her no more than five minutes for her to fall asleep. In her dream, she finds herself lying on a bed in a room that does not resemble the one she fell asleep on. She tries to get up off the bed but she cannot even sit up. Ropes keep her body down to the bed. A door out of her vision opens up and something is thrown into the room. Quickly a red flame runs up the bedpost to the blankets. Cheryl begins to scream as the flames make their way toward her body. The heat creates an unbearable pain that shoots through her.

"Cheryl," Harry says as he wakes her up. "What's wrong?"

The three year old is crying now. She is so upset that she is hyperventilating. Harry does the best he can to get her to calm down. By the time her tears have stopped flowing, she cannot remember the exact reason why she is crying. All she knows is her dream made her cry. Harry takes her into his room to sleep. Though it does not stop her nightmares, Harry is able to comfort her much faster.

Emily grows increasingly worried about Cheryl's well being. Harry hesitates to tell her about the nightmares their dear little girl has. Eventually though he decides that it is best to tell her but he tones it down a bit. "She just gets a little shaken but she seems to be okay," he tells her.

Emily asks, "Did she talk to you about them at all?"

"No. She hasn't said much. She told me she couldn't remember them. What should I do?"

"Maybe if you read something to her or watch a movie with her so she'll dream about that. Maybe the bad thoughts will be chased out of her head at least. If that doesn't work then I don't know." After a few months pass, Cheryl's nightmares get worse. She screams when she wakes up from them. Harry has a harder time calming her down. She still does not remember anything after she awakens. Emily weakens with each passing month but tries to stay cheerful. The nightmares continue for her as well. Their terrifying strength increases while her body slowly begins to fail.

One dream involving Cheryl once again is her worst one yet. Miles away her daughter sees the same images in her resting mind from a different viewpoint. Emily is lost in the foggy town that she is lost in every night. On the sidewalk is evidence of creatures being dragged. Bloody streaks give the gray tile new color. The road in the deserted town splits into different sections, leading through the other areas of the town. Emily follows it though she is not quite sure what she is looking for. Eventually the road ends at the top of a bottomless cliff. There is no other way to go but backwards. Near the first intersection, the light patter of shoes hitting the tar grasps the mother's attention. In the distance she can see a child with black hair and blue dress running further into the unknown. Fearfully, the mother follows.

Without even taking a look at her surroundings, Cheryl's attention is immediately drawn to a girl in the distance. She looks about the same height as Cheryl and she has dark hair too. "This way," she thinks she hears the mysterious girl say. Carelessly Cheryl wanders into the fog. Low growls of monstrous dogs threaten her but she does not stop, she does not look back. Torn flesh hanging from bare muscles sway in the air as the creatures race toward the child.

The sight of the dogs sends a surge of panic through Emily's body. Her legs move faster, her arms swing along with the movement of her body, and her heart pumps harder. Up ahead, a chain link fence door smashes against a metal bar. Cheryl has made it safely though but that leaves the creatures as an obstacle for Emily. For a spit second she gets a look at what she is up against. Two deformed dogs stalk the fence that she must go through. One of the dog's eyes seems to burn into her, piercing her body almost. The other one licks the blood off the gravel-covered ground. Without stopping she runs straight for the fence. The screeching bark of the dogs sends a chill down her spine but still she does not hesitate. The fence squeaks open then quickly slams shut, blocking the way. The creatures are left behind to bark at Emily's trail.

The whole area suddenly becomes darker once Emily passes the fence. She has completely lost sight of Cheryl. Sprinkles of something could fall down onto Emily's skin. Is it snow? Or is it rain? Her mind pushes this thought away. She must not concern herself with such unimportant matters. Cheryl's life is at stake. Blindly the path ahead is followed. But there are no more signs to tell the determined mother that her child is straight ahead. As she runs further and further the tarred road changes into dirt. A lonely house replaces the entire town. The drastic change makes Emily stop in her tracks. Up ahead, at the wooden door stands Cheryl. Emily calls to her but the child runs inside. Before she has a chance to get to the house, something stings the skin of her shoulder. White ash is falling from the sky; the house is now on fire. Emily screams, "Cheryl!" A child's scream echoes in response. The frantic mother takes her chances and runs inside the burning mass. Dodging flames and falling pieces she makes her way upstairs. Tied down to the bed is her little girl, screaming with her skin charred from the fire. Emily tries to get her out but it is impossible. The flames spread around her feet. An older woman's voice chants something in an odd language. The eerie words are carried on the wind to their ears. It makes the saddened mother's heart hurt.

Cheryl wakes up screaming. While Harry tries to comfort her, the doctor and the nurses at the hospital try desperately to contain the situation with Emily. Her body thrashes wildly and her heart rate increases dramatically. "Sedate her," the doctor yells over the noise.

"I can't," the nurse responds. "We can't hold her still enough. I might hurt her."

"Someone see if you can go find some restraints. Hurry!"

"Shh, Cheryl, it's okay," Harry says. He touches her head, smoothing her hair back. "Don't cry." At the hospital, a loving wife and mother stops breathing. The doctor is unable to revive her.


	10. Chapter Nine

The death of Emily brings Cheryl and Harry closer together. The young daughter never lets her father suffer alone. At night, when he is sitting in the darkened living room, he tortures himself by asking questions he will never know the answers to. In the midst of his thought he is interrupted. Little Cheryl stands in front of her father with her thumb in her mouth. Though it is dark, he can see that the rims of her eyes are red. She has been crying. He takes the child up in his arms and sits with her.

A file crashes to the floor and Lisa curses under her breath. She knows she does not have much time left. Her fingers work quickly to pick the lock on the filing cabinet. Something finally clicks. "Yes," she whispers happily. The drawer slides out easily from its place. Each item is scanned only for a split second until she finds what she is looking for. "The White Claudia," she reads. "A perennial herb found near water, reaches the height of ten to fifteen inches. Has oblong leaves, white blossoms, and the seeds contain hallucinogen. Ancient records show it was used for religious ceremonies. The hallucinogenic effect was key." It clicks in her head that the pills she had been taking are this drug. Kaufman is the cause of all her problems. She kicks the filing cabinet. "Damn him!" But she must conceal her anger for now. The time is not yet right to confront him. She has to come up with a plan first.

After learning the truth about the pills, Lisa decides not to take them anymore. Nothing happens at first but once a few days pass that changes. She dozes off numerous times throughout the day, jumping awake only after a few moments. It becomes impossible for her to get more than ten minutes of sleep. Every sudden noise startles her and makes her heart race. Her concentration is lost. She can barely see straight because of the lack of sleep so it is difficult to inject the painkillers into Alessa's IV. "What's wrong with you?" Kaufman asks her one-day. "Do you need more pills?"

"No," she says. "No. I'm fine. Just… tired."

"Go take a nap. Mrs. Gillespie wants to see her daughter."

"Mm, okay." She trudges off into the hallway. A few murmuring voices drift down to her ears. Instead of taking a nap, she decides to see what is going on. The receptionist discusses the condition of everyone outside with a doctor.

"My neighbor left yesterday," she tells him. "I think I might go too. Things are getting too weird around here."

"Is everyone still getting sick?" Lisa asks.

"Don't know but if they are, they're not coming here. There are still a lot of people on this side of town but over the bridge there aren't many left. Are you going to leave?"

"I'm thinking about it. It'll be hard to get out. I want to take that little girl with me."

"Good luck with that. Kaufman freaks out when one person alone leaves. He'll have a fit to know both of you are leaving."

"I wasn't planning on telling him," Lisa says.

"Well I figured that," the receptionist answers. "Just don't get caught, okay? If you do, you'll never make it out." Lisa does not have to ask the lady behind the counter to verify what exactly she means. The image of all the dead nurses is burned into her brain.

"Let me ask you something," Lisa says, lowering her voice. "Have you heard of a drug called 'The White Claudia'?"

"I know something… You can't let anyone know who told you this, especially not Kaufman. Some people here are involved in some weird cult. That old woman that comes here with the yellow looking skin, she's the leader. Before Michelle took off, she said she heard that woman and Kaufman were talking about some little girl. Apparently they tried to sacrifice her or something and failed."

"Michelle didn't leave… Kaufman, he- … He killed her."

"Oh my God. You're kidding?"

Lisa shakes her head as she continues, "She came down to the basement, told me to leave with her. Kaufman was furious when he saw her down there. She told him she was going to leave and that I was going with. They went up to his office and I followed them. The door was locked but I could hear them talking. Then she screamed and a gun went off."

"Oh man… I'm getting the fuck out of here. I suggest you do the same."

"I will. I just need to find a way to take that girl with me. I can't leave her here with them."

"Forget about her. What about you? That girl is as good as dead anyway. They already have her, they're going to do whatever they want to her no matter what."

"No. I can't do that. If there's a chance, I'm going to take it." The patter of footsteps stops them from discussing it any further. Lisa head back to Alessa's room, giving Kaufman no time to question her.

Cheryl is not too excited about going to school once she reaches the age of seven. Though she cannot explain why, she has been fearing this day. Because of this, Harry drives her to school everyday. It is obvious to him that she will not be able to handle it if she is forced to ride the bus. "You'll like it, I promise," he tells his daughter on the way there. This statement does not get a response. The seven-year-old stays quiet. When the car stops, Harry pats Cheryl's head gently. "Try to have fun, honey. If something happens, let me know, okay?"

She says, "Okay, daddy." They give one another a quick hug before she gets out. A lady with short brown hair and a black jacket on walks over to Cheryl.

"Hello, dear. I'll show you where you can put your backpack," the lady says. Cheryl follows her with her head down, her eyes on the gray tar below their feet. On the ground by each side of the double doors lies everyone else's backpack. Cheryl puts her own bag down in a spot by itself. Right from where she stands, she can see all the children play. Groups of girls play hopscotch or jump rope. Older girls jump through two jump ropes at once. Many of the older boys play basketball together. Some children fight over the swings. Cheryl does not know what she wants to do. She cannot jump rope and with the limited number of swings, there seems to be no chance for her to do that. Her decision ends up being to stay by the fence. With her backpack in her arms, she sits on the ground.

The whistle blows, a high-pitched nose that sounds like a familiar screech. Her hands clasp over her ears until it stops. She follows the group of children into the building. It is a small school so it only has two floors: ground level and a basement. The kindergarten teacher is everything you imagine a stereotype to be, which is not necessarily a bad thing. She greets the children with a warm smile. They all take in her bright appearance. Blonde hair is confined in a bun on the back of her head; the sleeveless red dress she wears covers her ankles but not her red heels. Upon seeing the teacher, Cheryl finds herself feeling a little more comfortable. The children do not avoid her as she has expected and they do not call her names. It is quite the opposite; in fact, a few of them play with her on the first day. She comes home cheerful, a smile spread wide across her face.

A small surprise waits for her on the couch. Harry has brought her a new sketchbook. While she draws in the living room, her father writes at the table in the kitchen. Ideas flow to his pen out on the paper swiftly. There are rarely any days such as this for him anymore. Work has been slow. He just has not had much inspiration lately, and with Emily's death, he has had trouble coming up with subjects to write about. Cheryl's humming reaches his ears and makes him smile. "How was school?" he asks while he continues to scribble.

The humming stops, Cheryl says, "It was fine."

"Did you have fun?"

"Yeah."

"Make any friends?"

"Yeah."

"See the new sketchbook I bought for you?"

"Yeah. Want to see the pictures I drew, daddy?"

"If you bring it here," he calls back, "I can look at it." She runs into the dining room with the book held out in front of her. On the cover is a giant circle with two big eyes and a smile. "That's really good, Cheryl."

"It's you, daddy. I drew it real fast. It's a pretty fast picture, isn't it?"

"Yes it is. You're probably the best fast drawer there is." She climbs into a chair across from her father and makes herself comfortable. The two work on their separate projects with deep concentrated. Harry's pen moves quickly, writing one line after another. Cheryl sketches out more of her fast drawn pictures with her tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth. She does this because in her mind, it makes her look professional. The sight raises a chuckle out of her father. "Working hard?" he asks her.

"Yeah. Are you working hard too, daddy?" He nods instead of verbalizing an answer.

The bandages that once covered Alessa's body are removed. She can now feel the slight breeze of a draft tickle her skin. Lisa decides to give the fourteen-year-old a present on this day. "Hey, Alessa," she says. "I have something for you. Now that you can move your fingers, this might be appropriate." In her hands, she holds out a notebook. It is a simple red notebook that has a clasp on the front to hold it securely shut.

"Thank you, Lisa," Alessa says, not knowing what else to say.

"Your mother is coming by to see you today. She should be here fairly soon."

"Oh." It is not a secret that the young girl fears her mother. Normally, Lisa stays by the doorway but today she is going to take the opportunity to search through Kaufman's files. Kaufman will be in the basement along with Dahlia and Lisa views this as hallucinations were so much worse then. Not only that but she became extremely exhausted and dozed off during the day. As a result, she went back to it.

When Dahlia shows up with Kaufman, Lisa dashes to the first floor. A bobby pin from her hair once again proves its worth as she successfully picks the lock on his office door. Inside, she wastes no time in getting the file cabinets open. In the bottom drawer she finds, not only a file on Alessa, but on Dahlia as well. After the papers are in her hands, she fills the empty spot with a different file. The next task she performs is raiding his desk. But there is nothing that she finds useful. She returns to the basement floor where she temporarily hides the files between stacks of towels in the linen room. The voices of Alessa and Dahlia float out into the hall. Alessa refuses something her mother offers though Lisa is unsure as to what. Soon the talking ceases.

After they leave the room, Lisa watches them go upstairs from around the corner. Once she is sure they have gone, she retrieves the files. The fourteen-year-old is sleeping now. From the tormented expression on her face it is easy for Lisa to see that the girl is having a bad dream. In Alessa's file there is a description of her burns but no the cause. She already has a guess sitting in the back of her mind. She figures Dahlia has something to do with it. The next page in Alessa's file is handwritten, Kaufman's handwriting. The messy letters make it hard for her to decipher the words. All she can make out is, "… half of the… gone… will be administered… bring the other half… give birth to… will bring about Paradise."

Lisa mumbles to herself, "What the hell? This must be that…" Her jaw mouthed the word _cult_ but it did not come out. She knows they are going to do something bad to Alessa. Even from what information she got from the file, she is not exactly sure what is going on. "Paradise?" She stuffs the file under Alessa's mattress and looks through the next one. In Dahlia's file is a newspaper clipping about the house fire that occurred seven years ago. "The cause of the fire is still unknown," she reads. She finds it peculiar that it does not mention anything about the people who lived there. Names are not mentioned nor does it acknowledge that the house even belonged to anyone. On the next page is a handwritten list of people. There is no indication of what this list is for. She moves on. Page three is unreadable to her eyes. It is documented in symbols and strange words that are foreign to her eyes. The file finds a hiding place under the mattress as well.

Despite the nightmares, Cheryl's first year at school goes surprisingly well. Although her teacher discusses the weird drawings created by the seven-year-old with Harry, she (for the most part) never gets in trouble. As the end of school nears, Harry asks his daughter if she would like to go somewhere over the summer. "Okay, daddy," she says. "Where are we gonna go?"

"Where do you want to go?" he says.

"I don't know."

"Think about it, okay?"

"Okay. I will."

At school, she asks her friends where a fun place to go is. They say names of cities and towns where their relatives are. She shrugs the answers off, not sure what to decide. Even her teacher provides a suggestion but it does not catch the young girl's interest. Finally Harry throws out a suggestion. A town just out of state, a place he has to go to drop something off to someone. He says, "We can stay there for a while if you like." She agrees although she is not too excited. One day while she is flipping through a book at school, she sees a map. On the map, her eyes are drawn to a small dot and next to it "Silent Hill" is written.

"Silent Hill," she mumbles. The two words roll off her tongue easily. The name sounds familiar to her though she is sure she has never heard it before. "Silent Hill." When she says the name out loud, it feels familiar. It feels like home. Cheryl convinces her father to go there for a vacation instead. He agrees but tells her they may have to make a detour to the other town first.

At Alchemilla, Lisa begins to feel as though she is the only nurse left. Many of the people in town are gone. It is not evident if they left or if something worse happened to them. A majority of the patients are gone as well. Any time Lisa finds someone to talk to, they tell her they plan on leaving. She finds it odd that they never actually go anywhere. "The doors wont open," a nurse answers when Lisa asks. "I don't think they're locked. It's like it's sealed shut or something. I know I'm not crazy because other people have said the same thing. They don't want us to leave- that lady and Dr. Kaufman. I can feel it."

"What about the patients? What's happening to them? It's obvious they can't just leave," Lisa says.

"A lot of them are dying from being sick. Some of them are just gone. You can go to check on them one day then come back the next and find nothing. The bed's made, the machines are off- the room looks like no one was ever there."

"Did you try opening a window, I mean-"

"Stuck. Wont open either."

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know." In the basement, Lisa makes up, in her mind, a plan for her and Alessa to escape. She knows she cannot leave the fourteen-year-old here alone. Especially not with her mother and Kaufman lurking around. They have a plan for her.

"Alright people, quiet down," an older man says, his voice rises to talk over the small crowd. His graying hair is concealed by the dark brown hair dye he used on it not too long ago. His aged face gives off a stern expression to the others in the room. All of them are dressed appropriately for the workplace, which happens to be a police station. The officers go silent and listen to what their boss had to say. "There have been some communication problems with the next town over. Silent Hill. There was a report of some strange, deaths. We tried to contact the police station over there but haven't gotten an answer. I need someone to go over there and check it out." The group murmurs among themselves for a moment. No one really wants to go to that town. Many rumors circulate around it that frighten people.

"I'll go," a woman with short blonde hair volunteers.

"Officer Bennett. Aren't you on an assignment already?"

"Yes but if you give me some time I can finish it up quickly and take on this one."

"… Can you handle it by yourself?"

"Yes, sir. I'll be fine on my own."

"Alright then… Everyone back to work." The people in the room go back to the task they are assigned to complete. Davidson, the boss, stops Officer Bennett from leaving. "Are you sure this is something you want to do? I can always find someone else," he says.

"It's no big deal," she tells him. "I'll have to check it out and come back here. If you were worried because of the rumors, I'd save my energy. You know I don't believe all that."

"Well… just be careful, Cybil."

"I will. Now I have some work to do." Many of the rumors spread around concerning Silent Hill are about witchcraft, sacrifices, and devil worship. Some people have told her that children were sacrificed there. Some have said weird blood rituals are performed at night. But Cybil finds that hard to believe. When school gets out less than a month later, Harry tells Cheryl to pack.


	11. Epilogue

Morning comes, Lisa is already awake but Alessa is still asleep. The nurse quietly hurries to the first floor. The main entrance is empty and cold feeling. It gives her a bad feeling yet she presses on. At the double doors leading outside she uses a pin from her hair to unlock it. This attempt is successful but the doors refuse to open no matter how hard she pulls. Footsteps echo in the hall, washing her over with fear. Over the counter she goes and into a corner that serves as her hiding place. Inside her body, her heart beats faster with each noise. She knows if she is caught (especially by Kaufman) her escape attempt is all over. Before the unknown person can see her, she ducks into the next room. The small office holds another door that leads to the examination room. There she finds a door to the outside and it opens. After using a stapler as a prop to keep it open, she sneaks back to the entrance.

It is empty once more; no alarming sounds reach her ears. On the second floor, she retrieves a wheel chair then takes the elevator all the way down to the basement level. She is able to get Alessa into the chair without completely waking her up. They use the elevator again but only go to the first floor this time. Following the hallway, they go to the examination room. The door does not open for it is stuck shut. "What's going on?" Lisa asks herself.

"I locked it," Kaufman says. She jumps as soon as his voice rings out.

"Why are you shutting everyone in here? Why wont you let us leave?"

"There's nothing out there, Lisa. There's no point in going outside. Everyone's gone. And you have a job to do. Get back down to the basement."

"No. I'm taking her out of here. I don't know what you two are planning to do with her exactly but I'm not going to let you hurt her. What exactly is 'Paradise' anyway? And why have you been giving me hallucinogens?" Kaufman swings at her with his right hand. Lisa's arms automatically fly to block her face. His hand hits her shoulder. The force knocks her down to the floor. Pain throbs in the spot he hit her but she crawls to the door and quickly escapes out into the hall.

"Get back here," Kaufman yells.

"Leave me alone!" The nurse scrambles to her feet and begins to run. She does not know where she can go, all the outside doors are locked. Thinking fast, she had to the second floor. Kaufman's footsteps echo loudly behind her. It is difficult for her not to panic. As she passes one of the patients' rooms, she catches a glimpse of a chopped up body. A scream escapes her mouth when her eyes lay on the body of a dead, mutilated nurse at the end of the hall. Though it is impossible to tell, she has a feeling it is the nurse that told her about the doors.

From behind, a force strikes the top of her head. She falls face first to the floor. Blood pours from the injury down her hand, which she has placed to her forehead. A moan rises from her throat, the only sound she can make. In blind fury the doctor beats her. Flesh pounds against flesh, bone breaks, skin cracks, blood spatters, and screams fill the air. When he is finally able to control himself, he leaves her there to die. Luckily for her, God seems to have mercy; her suffering only lasts for minutes.

Alessa wakes up in her bed with a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. The kind nurse that is usually there to tend to her is nowhere to be found. An image flashes through her mind, revealing the fate of the nurse. Tears fall from her eyes immediately. The door to her room shuts to keep the man responsible out.

Night begins to take over the sky by the time Harry and Cheryl are back on the main road to Silent Hill. His little girl sleeps in the passenger seat with her sketchbook against her chest. The car bumps down the road, passing other cars every once in a great while. He finds it odd to see that barely anyone is on the road. But Silent Hill is not an extremely popular vacation spot. Years ago when Harry and Emily went to Silent Hill, they had considered moving there. It is such a nice, homely town. Anyone who goes there feels welcomed. It grows dark fast. Harry flips the headlights on. From his left, a motorcycle goes barreling down the road. It is obvious by the outfit the lady is wearing that she is a cop, seeing this makes him wonder if there has been an accident up ahead. There are no tire marks on the road indicating a car swerving out of control. In fact, there are no signs that any kind of accident has occurred.

In the basement of Alchemilla, Alessa sleeps. The door to her room is still shut and cannot be opened by those on the outside. She does not want to be disturbed while she channels her power. Somehow, she has felt the presence of Cheryl near the town. Since Dahlia is still around, Alessa does not want Cheryl to come here. If she does, Dahlia will try to unleash Paradise onto the world.

More than halfway there, Cybil has to stop. Her motorcycle is out of gas, which she finds extremely odd. "I thought I filled it up," she says as she lightly kicks the wheel. "Shit. This is great." Of course her only other choice is to walk. Hardly any cars passed her on the way here and she doubts any will go by her now. She does not consider herself a lucky person.

In the red jeep carrying two members of the Mason family, Cheryl finally wakes up from her nap. She has been sleeping for about an hour now. Her eyes flutter for a moment before they open. Harry says, "Are you awake?" She nods with a smile on her face. She holds her drawing pad in her hands as she watches the road. Harry is the only one that notices the fallen motorcycle on the side of the road. His head follows it for a second, watching it disappear as fast as it came. The instant he looks back to the road ahead of him, he sees a young woman in a blue dress start crossing the street. Instinctively he turns the wheel in the other direction. Cheryl lets out a shocked scream as they spin out of control.

Cybil has just arrived in Silent Hill. She has been trying to find a working phone. Not only are the phones not working but the radios play nothing but static. No people are around either. It is deserted. The whole place gives her the creeps. She jumps at every noise. By the time she reaches the café, fog already rises from the ground. The white sheet is easy to see against the dark sky. For now she stays in the safety of the small diner. That is all she can do.

When Cheryl wakes up, she gets out of her seatbelt. Her father is unconscious. The seven-year-old can sense something familiar about this place. The wind carries to her a voice that calls her name. "I'm coming," she says as she gets out of the car. Her mind is still spinning but she runs off despite, following the voice. Less than a moment later, Harry awakens. A pulsating ache makes his head throb. To the right, he sees an empty seat. The area around him is covered in fog. Outside, snow falls gracefully down from the sky, noiselessly landing on the ground. Harry steps out of the severely damaged vehicle. His head is spinning and he feels disoriented as he walks. The sound of footsteps catches his attention right away. Up ahead is Cheryl. She runs further into the fog as he calls out to her, leaving him no other choice than to follow her.


End file.
